GREECE

INTERNATIONAL FOLK FESTIVAL "PIERIDON MOUSON" KATERINIS

The experience of the Estia Pieridon Mouson dates back to 1972, when it first became the founder and organizer of the OLYMPUS FESTIVAL. By 1989, it had already completed seventeen annual editions of the Olympus Festival, and thus the International Folklore Week of the 18th Olympus Festival was held in accordance with CIOFF standards. With the establishment of Or.Fe.O. (Olympus Festival Organization), Estia Pieridon Mouson upgraded the Folklore Week into the “International Folklore Festival of Olympus”, which later evolved into the International Folkorel Festival “PIERIDON MOUSON” that continues to this day, maintaining CIOFF-level standards for the past 36 years. During this period, it has hosted delegations from approximately 40 countries. More than 7,500 visitors from around the world have discovered Pieria through over 150 performances across the region.Likewise, the Festival has been hosted in numerous European countries and in Canada, at the 3rd World Folkloriada in Pécs, Hungary, at the major CIOFF Festival of Southeast Asia and Oceania in Huhhot, northern China, and has participated in dozens of international CIOFF Festivals, presenting hundreds of performances.Throughout these years, the International Folklore Festival has served as the driving force enabling Estia Pieridon Mouson to develop a comprehensive and global cultural exchange network. These exchanges have offered the association the opportunity to showcase Greek, Macedonian, and Pierian tradition across Europe, Asia, and the Americas. The International Folklore Festival “PIERIDON MOUSON” was, in 1988, among the founding members of the Hellenic National Section of the International Council of Organizers of Folklore Festivals and Folk Arts (internationally known as CIOFF), and it faithfully serves its mission and objectives.Based in Katerini, its activities extend throughout the region of Pieria, from the Olympic Riviera to the semi-mountainous settlements of the prefecture. Mount Olympus—the very reason thousands of traditional folk artists from around the world have visited and been hosted in Pieria over the years—has always played a central role in the Festival’s program.The International Folklore Festival of Estia Pieridon Mouson is a celebration dedicated to all the nations of the earth, small and large, powerful and less powerful, inspiring messages of humanism, harmonious coexistence, and peace among peoples.